CEE FinTech founder Zsombor Imre made an interview with Zsolt Nyéki. Zsolt is the Deputy CEO of OTP Mobil that is developing the Simple application. OTP Mobil is a company owned by OTP Bank the major Hungarian retail bank, its task is to create mobile commerce and mobile payment solutions for the markets. Simple already has over 200.000 registrations and 1 billion forints turnover in 2016.

Being backed by a major bank

Being backed by a major bank from the very beginning is not a typical model for fintech startups these days. According to Mr. Nyéki it is definitely an advantage, the most obvious reason is because they do not have to look for funding and they can use all the systems, experience and solutions which are provided by the bank. (0:39)

Simple is developing solutions which are not only for OTP customers, but available to any banks’ customers. – The Simple logo also places emphasis on this with its blue and orange color. (1:52)

OTP is a regional player – and thanks to this – OTP Mobil decided to roll out its solution in other markets where OTP exists. The next step will be Bulgaria, going live in the spring of 2017. (3:15)

From Simple Labs…

Simple is operating in an environment which is not that flexible and agile as a startup should be, however they have always tried to function like a startup. At the very beginning Simple was called Simple Labs. That time the goal of the company was to go out to the market as soon as they can and develop the system based on the customer insights. It took five months to get commercially ready and leave the ‘Labs’ tag. (3:56)

Competition and cooperation

Everyone on the market who is developing m-commerce applications is competition for OTP Mobil, however the differentiator factor of OTP Mobil is that there is no one on the market who are developing such a complex solution, integrating different types of services as Simple does. (5:10)

Simple is cooperating with other startups as well but they do the developing in-house. Also, there were already some pilots to try out different services. Zsolt said that these cooperations are valuable because they can learn from each other. (5:55)

The next big hit

About the next big hit of Simple… we cannot reveal you any secrets but you can expect big hits like the recent one – Bookline integration– was. Bookline webshop moved in to Simple that is how Simple started to become kind of a marketplace. As for the future, Zsolt mentioned that they will implement new technologies and have new user interface which is tailor made to this new technology. Also they plan to improve the user experience. (6:28)

Only for Millennials?

Simple are not only focusing on the younger generations – with pizza and cinema tickets ordering services-, there are certain services that are designed for the older generation – due its topic, like parking and highway ticketing. (8:21)

Simple does not want to implement everything, only deploy those services that could be relevant on mobile. It must provide an advantage and benefit for the customers.

Customers need a complex solution in their hands. They do not want to jump from one platform to another, just handle things with one click. And of course, they would like to do it in a secure and trusted environment.